These mini-roses are forced cuttings and usually are in a compost that
wears out quickly. They are not really designed to survive.

What's a forced cutting? That's kind of a shame that they're sold like
that, I really want mine to live! Earlier I said that it had aphids,
but I think, after reading up on them again, it was actually spider
mites. I used to crush a whole bunch under my thumb if I saw them
under the leaves.

We have taken to planting them out into the ground when it is warm
enough and most love that. They seem perfectly hardy.

Thanks, I've read that too. I'll have to do more reading as our soil
here (Calgary) is mostly clay. My outdoor plants that grow best tend
to be the ones native to the area. Every year I buy a couple of bags
of soil and compost, but this doesn't seem to improve the quality.

The other thing to do is to repot the strongest one into a good
compost, tipping its growing points when you do that, *and discard the
others.

The stems are still nice and green, so I repotted all of them last
night in a mix of potting soil and dirt from my flowerbed. All the
dirt in the pot was quite moist still, and I haven't watered it for a
couple days now. Fingers crossed!

Thanks again,
Christine